Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of Butler has sponsored a bill that seeks to block the National Labor Relations Board from taking any further action in the wake of a recent federal circuit court decision. Kelly’s bill is titled the “Advice and Consent Restoration Act” and it was introduced last week. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously ruled on Jan. 25 that the Obama Administration’s appointment of three NLRB nominees in 2012 was unconstitutional, because the Senate was actually in session when those appointments took place. The court ruled that Obama should have gotten the Senate’s consent on the appointments.From Kelly’s office, issued today: “Yesterday, House Republican Leadership echoed U.S. Representative Mike Kelly’s (PA-03) recent call to block the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from taking any further action as a Board until the matter surrounding last year’s unconstitutional appointments of several of its members is resolved. In a letter sent to the NLRB yesterday, House leaders insisted the board cease all activity until members sufficient to meet a quorum are confirmed by the U.S. Senate or the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the appointments. This call fell on the heels of legislation introduced last week by Rep. Kelly, titled the “Advice and Consent Restoration Act,” which would not only block the NLRB from taking any further action in the Board’s current form, it would also block the pay of the three unconstitutiaonlly-appointed members.” Kelly, in a statement, said: “The court’s ruling that these NLRB appointments were a clear violation of our nation’s system of checks and balances shows an alarming act of overreach by the Obama Administration, which effectively invalidates the authority of the Board in its current form. This breach needs to be corrected immediately to restore the American public’s trust in this important governmental body and in the constitutional process from which its power is derived.” To read Kelly’s bill, click here.